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00:01five-time snooker world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is on the ultimate road trip with his buddy Matt
00:07Smith. So do I get an ink now? You're the rocket obviously. We're gonna hustle a little bit. Yeah.
00:12I was thinking you could be the peacemaker. He's visiting four very different cities on a journey
00:20of discovery. I can't believe I'm standing now with his ass. Welcome Alcatraz. How do you feel?
00:34He's going to learn about America's great history. And there is a pool and billiards connection really.
00:40Is there? Yeah. Mark Twain. Who's he? Who's he? Blond. Who's Mark Twain? Did you just play snooker through your
00:48youth? Is that all you did really?
00:50Yeah. And it's linked with the great game of pool. So now you're holding a cue. Oh wow. What are
00:57you going for? The six?
00:59Oh wrong. Jesus. Wow. Did you just try and lean on a table? Yeah. That's scary. He'll take on the
01:09best at their own game. I'm one of the greatest athletes that's ever been born. And even have a
01:15crack at the public. What do you make of Ronnie? Stick to snooker. Stick to snooker. Just as long
01:23as nobody finds out who he is. Roddy. What did you say his name was? Johnny O'Sullivan? Ronnie O'Sullivan? No.
01:31I've never heard of him.
01:33This time Matt and Ronnie hit Chicago where they get a taste of gangster life.
01:38They shot him through the head. Oh you can see a bit of brain there can't you? Shoot more than
01:43just pull.
01:46What a buzz. You're a killer. And take on one of the game's deadliest players. The Black Widow.
01:53So I've hit that too hard yeah? I don't like this guy. No.
02:06Chicago. Birthplace of Walt Disney. Playboy bunnies. The world's first skyscraper. And home to more
02:14iconic pool halls than you could shake a finely crafted perfectly weighted stick at. And when
02:20you're in Capone country there's really only one way to travel. Look at that. Look at this mate. Wow.
02:30How you guys doing? Welcome to Chicago. This is some car. This was a pre-war 1938 touring sedan. This
02:37was America's top of the top. So this hasn't been restored at all? This car is what they call a
02:41survivor car. It's original. It's never been restored. Look at the dashboard. Unbelievable.
02:46Oh. And I guess they didn't necessarily want the image of mobsters driving around in these
02:52cars. But that's what they got. You're absolutely right. But that's what they got. Your Al Capone's
02:55et cetera. They'd have sat in the back of one of these. It's a hustler's car, Ron. This
03:00is a hustler's car. Right, Ron. I'm going to give it a go. I feel like a gangster.
03:11Yeah. This is like the Bugatti of its day. Yeah. I should have the mob boss in the back.
03:28Al Capone, yeah. Oof. A bit twitchy, wouldn't it? You would. You wouldn't want to grind those
03:32gears with the boss in the back. Ha ha. In the gangster days of Capone and all those guys
03:38around here. Pool's a big deal. Big game. They often hung out in pool rooms. He had
03:43his own pool club. And snooker kind of has that culture as well. Years ago, the Krays,
03:49they used to have their own snooker club. Did they? Yeah, I think it was one in Mile
03:52End. Even though snooker's a classy sport, it still has that sort of underground sort of vibe
03:57about it. It really does. Before Ronnie hustles for real, he's going to practice his game against
04:03a past master. Eight-time world champion Nick Varner, a.k.a. the Kentucky Colonel. Playing
04:14for over 50 years, Nick learned his craft from the legendary pool hall hustlers of the 1960s.
04:20So he certainly won't be a pushover. When I grew up, there really weren't hardly any tournaments
04:28and no pool leagues. And the only way you could measure how you were doing, you had to bet
04:33a few bucks a game. And the old timers, they thought you should have to pay for that education.
04:38Because I remember, I was playing one guy, and he says, you know, if you bet twice as much,
04:43you'll learn twice as fast. Is that what he says? I guess you learned okay. You want to play
04:49the eight-bar or the nine-bar, which game you like? Eight-bar. You played good eight-bar, didn't you?
04:54Yeah,
04:54I won one world title in it. There you go. It's first of three games, the Rocket versus the Colonel.
05:17Game over.
05:18Okay.
05:25It just tricks me. These tables trick me.
05:33One game down, but cheer up, Ronnie. There's a long way to go.
05:49Another mistake from Ronnie.
05:58And from Nick.
06:02And again from Ronnie.
06:04The pools are so big that sometimes they go past it.
06:08It's just a misjudgment.
06:11Only two games in, and it seems both players are starting to crack.
06:16Oh, dear.
06:18Or could we be seeing some cunning hustler mind games?
06:21All right, Ronnie.
06:26A few mistakes that game, eh?
06:28Oh, no.
06:29It's like the balls aren't doing what I think they should be doing.
06:33Two games down. If Ronnie is testing out his hustling skills, now's the time to step it up.
06:44If he ever makes it back to the table.
06:51Oh, he's got absolutely unbelievably lucky there.
07:01This shot for the win.
07:15Oh, Nick.
07:16He's tightening it, look.
07:16Snicky, boy.
07:17What the hell happened now?
07:19A lifeline for the rocket.
07:292-1.
07:30We're up and running.
07:492-1.
07:50It all comes down to this final game.
07:542-1.
07:552-1.
07:562-1.
07:582-1.
07:592-1.
08:002-1.
08:002-1.
08:002-1.
08:002-1.
08:002-1.
08:032-1.
08:032-1.
08:052-1.
08:062-1.
08:06An extraordinary comeback.
08:11If this goes in, Ronnie's defeated an ex-world champion.
08:20Nice shoot, mate.
08:21Good luck.
08:22Very sweet.
08:23It really killed me.
08:24Yeah.
08:25I try every time.
08:26Yeah, I know.
08:27It's a killer, isn't it?
08:28Nice one.
08:31You know, once a good player starts to miss a few, you start to get a little bit of confidence.
08:35I feel like I played alright.
08:37You know, he struggled to beat me, and he's probably one of their best players of all time.
08:40So, I picked up a bit of belief from that, that maybe I could close this match out.
08:45The break killed me.
08:47Both my break and his.
08:48I was breaking dry and leaving him run outs, and then he was running out from his breaks.
08:53Well, he picked the eight ball today, so he picked it for a reason.
09:00Still to come, the boys discover Chicago's mobster underworld.
09:04This is where the real action happened, eh?
09:06Oh, wow.
09:07And Ronnie gets trigger-happy.
09:09Yeah.
09:10Kind of.
09:10What am I doing?
09:11Ah!
09:12Ah!
09:14Ah!
09:15Ah!
09:18Ronnie and Matt are continuing their journey of discovery on the streets of Chicago.
09:24This is just mental, guys.
09:25I love it.
09:27Look at it.
09:28I mean, this is very much Capone country, or it was, and he was obviously of Italian background.
09:33Yeah.
09:34And the two competing sets of gangsters in Chicago back then were the Italians and the Irish.
09:40Yeah.
09:40And the Irish, yeah.
09:40So, you'd have been on the fence, wouldn't you?
09:44Ronnie O'Sullivan.
09:45Yeah, yeah.
09:45With a Sicilian mum.
09:46Ronnie Antonio O'Sullivan.
09:48There you go, you see?
09:49Throwing in my mum's Catalano surname.
09:51Yeah.
09:51You'd have been banging the middle.
09:52I could have been like, you know, the middle man.
09:54You could have been spots or stripes.
09:55Yeah.
09:57Next stop, a lesson in mob history as the boys head uptown to visit an iconic Prohibition
10:03era hangout.
10:07Oh, wow.
10:09This is the Green Mill, the famous Green Mill.
10:11Yeah, yeah.
10:12Opened in 1907, it's one of the longest running jazz clubs in the world, but it's most famous
10:17for being the favourite haunt of one notorious customer, Mr. Alphonse Gabriel Capone, or Al,
10:24to his friends.
10:25This right here is the Al Capone booth.
10:27I'm almost afraid.
10:29Oh, no, he's dead, don't worry about it.
10:31He died of syphilis in 1947.
10:33Is that right?
10:34Yeah, you won't catch it in this booth, don't worry.
10:36So this was his spot?
10:37Yep.
10:38He would sit here, that way he could see both doors.
10:42Ah.
10:42A mobster don't want his back to the door ever.
10:45Also, no one is allowed in or out once he was inside the joint.
10:49And I hear he was a really big tipper too, he would tip $100 to everybody working.
10:53He just liked the working man, you know what I mean?
10:57Okay.
10:57As long as you did what he said.
10:59Yeah.
11:00Yeah.
11:00How much different is this place now from when Capone sort of was coming in?
11:05He got an 18-piece big band on Thursdays.
11:07People are dancing, they're playing Glenn Miller tunes, you know.
11:10That's what was happening here back then.
11:12Nothing's different, and it's kind of cool.
11:15And in Prohibition would this have had a back door supply of booze?
11:20Yeah, they would get it in coffee cups and things like that.
11:23But then there's anything goes parties.
11:25Girls, gambling, liquor, just let your mind wander with that one.
11:32But what happened on ground level is only half the story.
11:37We're going to go down to the trap door.
11:40Come on down this way, watch your head.
11:42All right.
11:44This is where the real action happened, eh?
11:46We've heard there's a raid, we've got to get out of sight.
11:48Yeah, right.
11:49This is where, like, Al Capone and those guys would come down here,
11:52and then there's a series of tunnels with all these rooms
11:55that they would have those anything goes parties.
11:58Wow.
11:58I don't know if you know this, but Al Capone in 1927 made $60 million.
12:03$60 million?
12:04You know how much that is today?
12:07$630 million.
12:08No wonder he could afford a $100 tip here and there.
12:12Whoa.
12:13Oh, hello.
12:14Yeah.
12:15Wow.
12:16You didn't get in here without an invite, did you?
12:19Come on through here.
12:21So this is where the series of tunnels starts.
12:24Wow.
12:25You could go all the way that way,
12:26then you could go towards the Aragon Ballroom that way,
12:28you could go that way, be out on Broadway.
12:30It's all over the place.
12:32Watch your head, boys.
12:35Oh.
12:36Okay.
12:36Let's see.
12:36It just goes on and on, Dave.
12:38Well, how come there's so many tunnels?
12:40Well, their tunnels were for delivery of coal and things like that,
12:42but in this joint itself, it was used for escape routes
12:45of getting out of here.
12:47What's in that?
12:47Well, this here, this is the old men's toilet.
12:51Let's go in here.
12:52The restroom?
12:53Look at this.
12:54Yeah.
12:55I wonder how big these guys were to have to have a urinal like this.
12:58They must have been so drunk they couldn't shoot straight.
13:00Anyway, speaking of shooting straight, you know,
13:03Al Capone supposedly killed at least 30 guys in his lifetime,
13:08which I think it would be more, but they could document 30 guys.
13:11So a guy was sitting here in a chair and he took a baseball bat
13:14and broke his knees, and they still wouldn't cough up what they wanted,
13:18you know, like say what they were trying to get out of them.
13:20Yeah.
13:20So they shot him through the head, and there's the blood and the brain matter.
13:25Oh, my gosh.
13:25Is that wild or what?
13:26Oh, you can see a bit of brain there, can't you?
13:28Yeah.
13:28So now, of course, you're going to say, what, they never cleaned it up,
13:31which is funny, because this is from a movie done in 1990 called Excessive Force.
13:35Oh, right.
13:36So they filmed down here and that's what it's from,
13:38but then I get to say what happened, you know what I mean, so...
13:41You have me going there, don't you?
13:42Yeah, yeah, I know.
13:46Didn't they make a film about Capone?
13:48Yeah, there's a few, but the one that obviously springs to mind set here,
13:52the Untouchables.
13:53Oh, was he, was that all based around Al Capone?
13:55Yeah.
13:55Yeah, yeah, and De Niro plays Capone.
13:58Oh, really?
13:58You can imagine the guys in the fedoras stalking through the smoky, grimy streets
14:03back in the days, in the thirties.
14:05Absolutely.
14:06Possibly with a little something under their arm, should the need arise.
14:09You know?
14:10You got the aircon opening there, don't you?
14:11I have got the vento.
14:12It's not really aircon, it's just, basically it's a bit of the bonnet that lifts up.
14:16That's where Al Capone used to put his money in there.
14:18Go ahead and slide it in there.
14:19You think so?
14:19Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:19And he's gone.
14:20And he's gone, yeah.
14:22What's your favourite gangster movie, mate?
14:24Erm, for me it's got to be The Godfather.
14:27One, two, three, four, erm...
14:29Three?
14:30Was it three?
14:31Three.
14:31Yeah, there wasn't four, wasn't that fourth one, no?
14:33Not yet.
14:36Gangster movies are one thing, but here, the life of a Chicago mobster is about to become
14:41very real indeed, as Matt and Ronnie shoot more than just Paul.
14:46You're not just shooting a couple of Thompson submachine guns, you're shooting a couple of
14:50very historic, if not the most historic, submachine guns in the world.
14:54These were the guns that were used in the St Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14th,
14:581929.
14:59Right, no way.
15:00Yes.
15:00A key moment in mob history, the St Valentine's Day Massacre saw seven men from the Irish North
15:06Side Gang brutally murdered by the Italian Southsiders, as Capone tightened his grip on
15:11Chicago.
15:12So we would call them, I think by nickname in Britain, Tommy Guns.
15:15Tommy Guns, yes.
15:16Is this the same here?
15:17Yeah, they're referred to as Tommy Guns.
15:20They were very expensive.
15:21You wouldn't think, you know, $185 would be a lot of money.
15:25Not in today's world, but back then, a brand new Ford Model T cost $400.
15:30So this is half of an automobile.
15:31Yeah.
15:32Cops couldn't afford these things.
15:33Mm-hmm.
15:33The bad guys could.
15:38So can anyone buy a gun?
15:40If you have a felony conviction, no.
15:42Right, but other than that, anybody can go and buy a gun, get some bullets.
15:45At a certain age, I forget what, 18 years old, before you could personally buy a firearm.
15:49You just go into a shot, ba-ba-boom, I want that gun, I want them bullets, and with the
15:54capability that that gun can kill somebody.
15:56Yes.
15:57Wow.
15:57It's hard to get my head around that.
15:59Mm-hmm.
15:59Coming from England.
16:03I've never fired a gun in my life.
16:05Okay, I'm gonna make the gun hot.
16:07Okay.
16:08Hot, everybody's eyes and ears.
16:10Squeeze off single rounds.
16:15Did that even hit the target?
16:16Yes.
16:17Okay.
16:18Ooh.
16:20Is the guy still alive?
16:21Yeah, well, I think you got him pretty good.
16:24Okay.
16:24Let's do a couple more.
16:25Okay.
16:30I'm gonna go reload.
16:31Blimey.
16:32Gives you the shakes.
16:33The closest I've got to a gun is when my brother shot me in the bum with an air rifle.
16:38That's my only exposure to guns.
16:40Wow.
16:41Whew.
16:41It's not for me.
16:42No?
16:43What, the gangster life?
16:44No.
16:45Gangster life.
16:46It's not for me, mate.
16:48I haven't got the...
16:49I haven't got the front.
16:50Oh, dear.
16:51Relax.
16:52Don't squeeze it to death.
16:54You're all right.
16:54All right.
16:55You're gonna put your finger on the trigger.
16:56What now?
16:57Get your sight.
16:58Go ahead.
16:58You're hot.
17:02Ugh.
17:03What am I doing?
17:06Why?
17:06Hold on.
17:07Hold on.
17:07Hold on.
17:08Just stone stiff.
17:09Now it's on the trigger.
17:10Feel that?
17:10Yep.
17:11Okay.
17:12I'm now gonna make it hot.
17:14Okay.
17:15You ready?
17:15Pull the trigger back.
17:19Whoa.
17:28Hold up.
17:29Finger off the trigger.
17:30Yep.
17:31Okay.
17:31It's now full auto.
17:33Right.
17:33What's that, mate?
17:34Give it a pull and let go.
17:39Okay.
17:40Okay.
17:50Okay.
17:52Okay.
17:52Okay.
17:55Okay.
17:55Okay.
17:55Okay.
17:55Okay.
17:56That's unbelievable.
17:57That's brilliant.
17:58Seems empty.
17:58That's fantastic.
18:00Make sure we're empty.
18:00What a buzz.
18:01Yeah?
18:02Yeah, I liked it, yeah.
18:03Did you?
18:04Oh, yeah.
18:04That worries me.
18:06I'll tell you what.
18:07I was really nervous to begin with.
18:09You were stiff as a board.
18:10I was stiff, yeah.
18:11I didn't want to let go.
18:12I let it go and I thought, I don't know what's happening here.
18:14Well, the single shot, you were spot on.
18:16I was going for the head, the arm, the heart.
18:18I thought, I'm aiming here.
18:20I mean, I wanted to do more.
18:21I didn't want to end, you know.
18:22I could have stayed here all day.
18:23You know, I'd have had bed and breakfast here, mate,
18:25and just kind of made a weak end of it.
18:27Matt just wants to get out of here.
18:29He's done.
18:29He's over.
18:30He can't handle it.
18:31I don't like guns.
18:32You need to toughen up, mate.
18:33I don't like guns.
18:33You need to get into the spirit of the gun.
18:34Do you think so?
18:35I must admit, I enjoyed the power that was in there.
18:38I was kind of, like, really getting into it.
18:40And then when it comes to spraying the bullets,
18:42I was like, well, hold on, let's try and keep it on target.
18:45The perfection is coming out of me, I think.
18:47It's all target and aiming, isn't it?
18:49It's a bit like a snooker, really.
18:50You're looking down, you're being pop.
18:51I thought, well, how would have I been
18:53if I would have been one of Al Capone's?
18:56Would have I been out to do it?
18:57And I think I could have done.
18:58It was quite a buzz.
19:00You're a killer.
19:02And Ronnie's going to need that killer instinct
19:04when he takes on Matt at America's favourite pastime.
19:10And attempts his first Chicago hustle.
19:13We may have bitten off more than we can chew here.
19:20Ronnie O'Sullivan and Matt Smith's stateside road trip
19:23rolls on through Chicago.
19:25My mental image of America is this.
19:28Yeah.
19:28You know, you couldn't be anywhere else.
19:30They do like a straight road out here, don't they?
19:32Yeah, they're not averse to a straight road.
19:33But that's good.
19:34I think that's why you kind of feel like you can get around it,
19:36because you go, right, there's that way,
19:38and that way, you just go round in squares here.
19:40So if you're on 44th, you're either side of 43 and 45.
19:44Exactly, yeah, yeah.
19:44Good idea.
19:46This is like driving on the M1.
19:49Sorry, sorry, man.
19:50Shut up, mate.
19:54You can't come to the States without experiencing America's favourite pastime, baseball.
20:00Wrigley Field, yes, that's the same Wrigley as the chewing gum,
20:03is home to the Chicago Cubs and was built in 1914,
20:06making it the game's second oldest stadium after Boston's Fenway Park.
20:10It's like Arsenal a little bit, innit?
20:13Like Arsenal?
20:14Yeah, where it kind of comes out a bit.
20:16Yeah, I love it.
20:17And coincidentally, the Cubs were founded by none other
20:20than Illinois' first state billiards champion, Thomas Foley.
20:26Shall we go and get an up dog?
20:28Right, mate.
20:29You're relentless.
20:30Are these good hot dogs?
20:32Are these decent?
20:33Perfect.
20:34Would you like sauerkraut or grilled egg?
20:36Who?
20:36Sauerkraut or grilled egg?
20:38What's sauerkraut?
20:39What's that?
20:39Pickled cabbage, isn't it?
20:41Oh, just onions.
20:43Just sausage, onions, jellepinos.
20:45You got any jellepinos?
20:46Right, just give me the onions then.
20:48An onions and a beef hot dog.
20:50Times five.
20:51No, two.
20:51Because he's paying.
20:52I've got to keep track of what Ronnie's costing me.
20:54Thank you very much.
20:55See you later.
20:56Bye-bye.
20:58It's all right, innit?
20:59Filth, innit?
21:00Yeah.
21:01Yeah, good filth.
21:01Yeah.
21:03Come on, Cubs.
21:08The Cubs.
21:08The Cubs.
21:08Despite being one of baseball's most famous teams, the Cubs haven't won a World Series for
21:13a record-breaking 108 years.
21:16Which may explain some of the clothing choices around here.
21:21And, of course, the boys can't resist the urge to have a go at something that involves
21:25hitting balls with a big wooden stick.
21:27Well, I've got a treat for you.
21:29Here we go, mate.
21:30This is it, mate.
21:31In the nets.
21:31This is where you learn and practice.
21:33This is the batting cage.
21:34So, do you want to have a go?
21:35Yeah.
21:36Batting ball.
21:36You're a bowler, yeah?
21:37If you like.
21:38We'll have a go each week.
21:39I can't bowl.
21:40Well, okay.
21:41I'll have a go.
21:42Do you want to win them for a while?
21:44We haven't had a little competition.
21:46You want a little wager?
21:47Yeah.
21:49Just a sandwich on it or something?
21:50Five balls each.
21:51Yeah.
21:51If it's a clean hit, then it counts as one, yeah?
21:54Yeah, it sounds good.
21:56Am I in the right spot, yeah?
21:58Yeah.
21:59You're swinging over that plate.
22:00I'll just give you a dolly and I'm going to jump out of the way
22:02because knowing you, you'll smash it.
22:03Okay?
22:08I knew you would.
22:11Wow!
22:13Whoa!
22:20Ooh, can't give you that one.
22:21Nah, that was no good.
22:22Three out of four.
22:23Last one, yeah?
22:24Yeah.
22:29Yes!
22:29Four out of five.
22:31That was a beauty.
22:32Yeah.
22:32You hit that, didn't you?
22:32Oh, that felt nice.
22:33Did it?
22:34Can you tell?
22:34I'll get two for that.
22:35No, you don't.
22:38One.
22:40Two, nice.
22:41Bit close, still.
22:45Oh, wasn't the best, was it?
22:47Right, you've got to get this clean, otherwise it's over Mars.
22:49Okay, mate.
22:52Oh, I didn't, did I?
22:53You stepped into it.
22:54Did me.
22:56I think that's an easy sport, that.
22:58Does that make sense?
22:58Yeah, that ain't hard, is it?
23:00No.
23:00I'm not having that.
23:01That's an hard sport.
23:02Give me two or three years, I'll be up there playing Premier League Baseball or anything.
23:05Easy.
23:06Sorry, Matt.
23:07It's all right, mate.
23:08You're starting to hate me now, aren't you?
23:10No, not really, no.
23:11Not yet.
23:11Cool, cool, cool.
23:16There was a high point, I think, around the First World War.
23:20Guess how many pool rooms there were in Chicago.
23:22I'd say 50.
23:23It's a good guess.
23:25Yeah?
23:25It's not right.
23:28830.
23:29830 pool rooms just in Chicago.
23:30Yeah, that's how popular it was.
23:31Yeah.
23:32That's more...
23:32That's crazy.
23:33...than there are Starbucks in Chicago today.
23:36That is mental.
23:36That is obscene.
23:38I'm feeling pretty good about my game now.
23:40At first, I was a bit like no man's hand with it, but I was starting to get a bit
23:43of a hang of it.
23:44Well, I'm thinking...
23:45I'm playing anybody for money here now.
23:46Yeah.
23:46I like the look of your game, mate.
23:48Yeah, I know.
23:49I'll put a little in the pot for you.
23:50You're up for...
23:50Yeah?
23:51Yeah.
23:51How about you?
23:52All right, cool.
23:53I think you've got the game.
23:54Even against the good players, I do.
23:55Yeah, no, I'm up for it.
23:56I'm a hustler here.
23:58I ain't gonna be finding no competitions.
24:00I ain't gonna be winning no gold medals.
24:01We've just got to embrace it.
24:02And then if we happen to, like, stumble upon some person that thinks he's, like,
24:07Tom Cruise out the colour of money, then we'll rob him.
24:12So where better to stage Ronnie's next match than the very place they film the colour of money,
24:17Chris's billiards.
24:19Over 30 years later, Ronnie and Matt will attempt to relive some of that movie magic with a classic hustle,
24:26like our very own Cruiser Newman with flip-flops.
24:34Filled with amateurs trying to make their name and impress their buddies, this place is a hustler's playground.
24:45Wow.
24:46Two players.
24:49Cheers.
24:54Under the pretense of some documentary filming, no-one has any idea who Ronnie is and that he's here to
25:00hustle.
25:01Or at least, that's what he's hoping.
25:04Now all he needs is a victim.
25:06I think there'll be some half-decent players here.
25:09Do you reckon there might be one or two takers?
25:11Yeah, I reckon so.
25:13We'll miss a few.
25:15Anyone want to play?
25:21But it's...
25:22There's a little steak required.
25:25Oh, what kind of steak?
25:2750 bucks.
25:2850?
25:28Yeah.
25:29Oh.
25:30Too rich?
25:31Yeah.
25:32Anyone want to go 50?
25:35What are you doing?
25:36You happy to play?
25:37What's that?
25:38You happy to play?
25:39Sure.
25:4050 bucks?
25:41Good.
25:41First to five for 50, okay.
25:42Yeah?
25:43All right, Alex, put it there.
25:45I don't know the rules.
25:47All I know is if there's a...
25:48If I go in off, I've got to pot a ball up that way.
25:50You're just going to pot the ball up.
25:53The old, I don't know the rules line.
25:56The hustle begins.
26:11First blood to Ron.
26:12This is a good hustle, Ron.
26:14Yeah.
26:15Eh?
26:15Yeah.
26:39A slip up from the rocket, and a chance to see what his opponent is made of.
26:46Alex seems pretty confident.
26:50One each.
26:59Not bad, is he?
27:00No.
27:01He's good.
27:01They may be starting to realise that this isn't his first rodeo.
27:05I'm a professional pool player, and I'm ranked in the top 40 in the country.
27:12Yep.
27:14I've won the Olathe Midwest Tour four times.
27:19I've won the Brickyard Tournament twice.
27:23I've won the Super Billiards Expo.
27:25That had over 1,000 players.
27:293-1 down.
27:33Now, that's the risk of throwing the doors open to anyone.
27:36We may have bitten off more than we can chew here.
27:38Oh, dear.
27:39The hustlers are being hustled.
27:42So, what do you do for a living, Alex?
27:44Uh, I play pool for a living.
27:46Oh.
27:46Are you serious?
27:47I don't know where to say.
27:48That's why you're good.
27:49Right.
27:50Any tips for Ronnie?
27:52Stick the snooker.
27:53Oh.
27:53And it looks like Ronnie's cover's blown too.
27:56It's not over yet.
27:57It's not over yet, mate.
27:58It's not over yet.
27:59No.
27:59Correct.
28:00If Alex wins this, it's game over.
28:04Give me a chance.
28:06It's a big break.
28:13Now we're talking, mate.
28:274-3, yeah?
28:294-3.
28:304-3, Alex's break.
28:31Could this all be part of Ronnie's hustle?
28:464-0.
28:474-0.
28:484-0.
28:48Whose break is it?
28:49Mine.
28:50That's good.
28:52The final game.
28:54One mistake now could cost $50 and a lot of pride.
29:11It's game over now.
29:13Ooh.
29:26That's good.
29:32Got me on the rack.
29:33Alex is just one shot away from defeating a snooker world champion.
29:43Good job, mate.
29:45Good play.
29:46Good day.
29:46Good day.
29:47Thank you, Alex.
29:48Well played, man.
29:48I was just getting really about the snooker.
29:50No, no, no.
29:53It wasn't easy.
29:54It was pretty intense, but I enjoyed it.
29:56I always love to be challenged and test my skills against one of the greatest players in the game.
30:02I've got to give you $50.
30:05I'm probably going to spend the money on the next full tournament.
30:09Ronnie O'Sullivan paid my way into the next one.
30:12I doubt it was just $50 and not $500.
30:15Otherwise we're rowing home.
30:17Isn't it?
30:18Yeah.
30:21Still to come, Ronnie picks up some tips from an unsung pool hero.
30:25If it wasn't for you, Skip, probably no one would be playing snooker.
30:29And gets caught in the web of the Black Widow.
30:32I do break balls for a living.
30:39The Chicago chapter of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Matt Smith's American tale is drawing to a close.
30:44I absolutely love this place.
30:48Oh!
30:49It's a car light, mate.
30:50It takes a bit of getting used to.
30:52You see yourself in Jigwell?
30:54What, driving one of these?
30:55Yeah.
30:55Yeah, I could as hell.
30:56Eh?
30:56I might have a little glass.
30:58Do you know what?
30:58I think that would be so cool.
30:59Yeah, it would be, yeah.
31:00Rocket Ronnie just heading down the shops.
31:03And his packard.
31:04Get all the kids in the back.
31:05Yeah.
31:08Before heading to their fine match, Ronnie and Matt are paying a visit to one of the
31:12game's unsung heroes.
31:15Tweeten's.
31:15This is the place, mate.
31:20Tweeten's fibre company has been making the game's finest chalk and q-tips for nearly
31:24a century.
31:25Founded by a village champion and the grandfather of current president, Skip.
31:30This is it, eh?
31:31This is it, yeah.
31:32Famous Tweeten's.
31:33Famous Tweeten's, I suppose.
31:35I'm going to warn you right now, everything's blue, so don't bump into anything or you're
31:39going to turn into blue chalk.
31:41Their products can be found in millions of pool and snooker halls around the world.
31:45And it all starts right here.
31:47I see what you mean, yeah.
31:48Yeah.
31:48It gets everywhere, eh?
31:49It's like being in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, isn't it?
31:52Yeah, exactly.
31:53Do you know what a Play-Doh machine is?
31:56Yeah.
31:56Remember Play-Doh, the thing, right?
31:57Yeah, yeah.
31:57Okay.
31:58So it's essentially like an adult Play-Doh machine.
32:01Look at that.
32:02Wow.
32:03That is Play-Doh.
32:04Right?
32:05It'll actually trim it into the cubes, the sides of the cubes.
32:10Is that what he's doing already?
32:11Yeah.
32:11I need to see that.
32:13I mean, this is unbelievable for me, because I've grown up on stuff like this.
32:22Yeah.
32:26Yeah.
32:45Perfect.
32:47Yeah.
32:47Yeah.
32:48But it's these little bad boys that really enhance a player's performance.
32:53And no, they're not Viagra.
32:57So this is where we do all the tips.
33:01Wow.
33:02Yeah.
33:06So there's a compression on the tip.
33:08Absolutely.
33:09So it's under high pressure.
33:10Right.
33:11So that's ready now.
33:12That's ready to play with, yeah?
33:14Right.
33:14This is one of the best experiences of my life.
33:17Because I've been a tip nut for years.
33:19I've played in the world championships.
33:20I think I've worked for about 17 tips in 15 days.
33:24Really?
33:27I think the tip sometimes is more important than the cube.
33:30Right.
33:30Really?
33:31Yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:31Because the player starts to question his technique.
33:34Really?
33:34It's not.
33:35It's just that you just need to do a tip on it.
33:36Exactly.
33:37They could guarantee put a tip on and it's played in straight away.
33:40Their stress levels would go from, say, 100, which is really stressed, to maybe 20.
33:45Sure.
33:45That's how important a tip is.
33:46I think a cue is a cue.
33:48You get used to it, but this is probably a snooker player's biggest problem.
33:53Right.
33:53Well, obviously he's going to fill his pockets.
33:56Are these the pro ones?
33:57Those are the pro ones.
33:59Oh, that's like a jewellery box.
34:00These are like diamonds, mate.
34:01Like that.
34:02These are diamonds.
34:04Look at that.
34:05This is amazing.
34:06If it wasn't for you, Skip, probably no one would be playing snooker.
34:09A lot of my life and troubles and joys of the game has come through products that you've made, so...
34:16So now you can blame me.
34:17Well, no, thank you.
34:19Well, thank you, you know.
34:20I've had a great life, you know, and it's great to meet you.
34:23Probably one of the highlights of the trips for me.
34:25Great, great.
34:26I mean that.
34:26And what we're going to be talking about over dinner?
34:28Tips and chalk.
34:29Beautiful.
34:31Come on.
34:32Thanks, Skip.
34:33This is the most excited you've been since we got here.
34:36No, I know.
34:36Is that sad?
34:37You've shot Tommy Gunn, driven cars.
34:40Tommy Gunn was good, but this is even better.
34:41It's not sad, no.
34:42Oh.
34:43This could win a few more World's Holes.
34:45Do you reckon?
34:45Yeah.
34:46If I get the right tip, I could be unstoppable.
34:54A little overexcited and armed with his new tips and chalk, Ronnie heads to his final Chicago
35:00showdown, which may just be his toughest challenge yet.
35:07Jeanette Lee has claimed over 30 national and international titles and was ranked the number
35:12one female pool player in the world.
35:16Nicknamed the Black Widow, she's been known to eat people alive at the pool table.
35:21Ronnie's hoping he's not for dinner.
35:24That's another $5 there, are you?
35:25Hi, guys.
35:27How you doing?
35:28Nice to meet you.
35:28Nice to meet you, too.
35:30I've never met Ronnie O'Sullivan before, but I've heard about him, and it boils down
35:35to one of the greatest snooker players of all time, the bad boy of snooker.
35:40Those were the two things that I would hear over and over again.
35:43What are we going to play, you guys?
35:45Eight ball?
35:46Well, I don't play a lot of eight ball.
35:49My favorite game is straight ball.
35:50Okay.
35:51Straight ball?
35:52I'll play you straight ball.
35:53We could play to 100.
35:54Yeah?
35:54Play to 100, yeah?
35:55Do you want to play for a little bit of money?
35:56What are we playing for?
35:58A dollar a point, the difference.
36:00Okay.
36:01Okay.
36:01So if it finishes 100 to 80, there's $20 on it.
36:03If it finishes 100 to 95, there's $5 on it.
36:06Sounds good.
36:07Although I need U.S. dollars, not pounds or anything.
36:09Oh, yeah, yeah.
36:12He's very humble, and you could tell that he's a genuine guy.
36:16But I have to do what I do.
36:18I do break balls for a living, so...
36:31Straight ball, or continuous ball, was immortalized in the 1961 film The Hustler.
36:36It was a popular game in the States until eight ball took over.
36:40The rules are fairly simple.
36:42Each ball of player pots is worth one point, and the first to reach the designated total wins the game.
36:51This is going to be awesome.
36:53Ha!
36:54Before the final ball goes down, the rest of the pack is re-racked and the player continues, and they
36:59can remain at the table until they miss or foul.
37:02Which, as Ronnie is discovering, can be a little frustrating for your opponent.
37:1214-0.
37:33Oh, God.
37:3614-0.
37:40I'm hoping...
37:42He's not another victim for The Black Widow.
37:57I should've stuck to me every one.
38:0115-0.
38:01Only 10-0.
38:0215-0.
38:04the record for the longest run is held by willie moscone one of the greatest players of all time
38:10scoring 526 points he didn't leave the table for nearly three hours but don't worry ronnie
38:18this game is only to 100
38:25it's quite a hard game if you're not at the table oh yeah
38:37it's a matter of how long you can maintain your focus
38:58oh my gosh I miscued it's a tough one it did I came right off the top of that ball
39:0690
39:11after 45 minutes Ronnie returns to the table can't believe me luck
39:24but trailing by a whopping 78 points he has a mountain to climb this is a true test of his
39:31game
39:56it's in his groove now
40:1672 but with Jeanette needing just 10 points to win a slip-up now could mean game over
40:2592 plays 90
40:31he's lost his patience
40:32it's a bit that too hard yeah yeah you're pounding the balls
40:35it's a patience game and I've got no patience I don't like this game
40:39no
40:45don't fancy our chances now
40:46I think I can tell
40:53is there a white gun
40:58do not fail me ronald
41:08eight balls to go
41:27this pot for the match
41:35that's it
41:41that was close yeah you could tell it towards the end he was getting frustrated because it tends to be
41:48a more
41:49paced artistic approach is what's supposed to happen that wasn't happening I think
41:56the world smashing them up they kind of put her off yeah calm down her head in a bit
42:02it's not a bad tactic
42:03no there you go a bit of a slip
42:04we'll have a rematch
42:07seven dollars
42:08if I'm there for seven dollars
42:09rare and a half
42:10we're going to have to get better at this hospital
42:12seven dollars
42:17ronnie and matt's chicago adventure has come to an end
42:20well ron this is it chicago in all its glory quite the place have you enjoyed it
42:25one of my favorite places i've ever been
42:26yeah jeanette lee nick varn a couple of wins that's good good for the bank balance
42:30and i've got all the skip from tweetins and i've got all the dave from the green mill
42:34they've said they're going to show us the town
42:36lovely
42:37yeah let's do it
42:38onwards and upwards
42:39onwards and upwards
42:48next time ronnie and matt are in memphis
42:51all right
42:51hey guys
42:53home of elvis
42:54and birthplace of the blues
42:55i have to smell it
42:56the blues
42:58ronnie learns that even world champs get knocked back
43:01that's the first time i've been refused to play on a snooker table
43:04is it
43:04yeah
43:04oh of course
43:05and he faces a rematch with an old rival
43:09you're in bear trouble
43:10okay
43:16thank you
43:17oh what we got from it
43:23and a dad
43:28he's the ichi
43:29of wii
43:31a
43:33great
43:35love
43:35the